


there is company in time's cold chamber

by Hymn



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/F, Silver Millennium Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-13
Updated: 2006-01-13
Packaged: 2019-02-28 22:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13281162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hymn/pseuds/Hymn
Summary: Pluto is so used to being alone that she has almost forgotten what company is like.





	there is company in time's cold chamber

**Author's Note:**

> written for sm_monthly

Pluto is so used to being alone that she has almost forgotten what company is like. She stands silent upon the bank of the stream of time for what, she assumes, is day after day, and watches as the visions curve past, as future becomes present becomes past.

She is not so far gone, however, that she cannot recognize, and greet, an intruder.

"They say that curiosity kills the cat, Lady."

Pluto's time key gleams wickedly from where she has positioned it, the sharp point just beneath Mercury's chin. Belatedly, the time keys cinched onto the chain around her waist make sweet, chiming screams.

Mercury smiles faintly, eyes cool and inscrutable, like the fog forever blanketing Pluto's eternal resting place. "Actually they don't say that any more. Mauites took offense and protested. But even if it were still a common phrase, it would not adhere to me. Cats are not native to Mercury, after all."

Pluto glares, and her knuckles whiten. It has been a long time since she interacted with someone, instead of merely observing, detached, and longer still since she interacted with someone who did not gaze at her in awe.

Instead of backing off, Mercury loses her smile, and impatiently pushes away the time key. Mercury is like time's chamber, Pluto thinks as she sweeps her staff around, low to the ground. Mercury leaps nimbly out of the way, her brow lightly furrowed.

"I did not come to fight you."

"I do not care."

Mercury is dark frost, like the shadows and fog that echo around the time stream. She is opaque and cold, and Pluto cannot read her eyes, or even what lies behind her frown. Mercury, ever the diplomat, does not attack back, and does not defend, merely retreats, slipping like an otter from Pluto's advances. The two women dance around the large chambers as though to music, one in her soldier's uniform, another in court garb.

The key slices through the soft fabric of Mercury's gown. Pluto pauses in startlement for a moment.

"What?" Mercury asks, sharp and curious. Pluto can hear no anger or petulance in the tone, only calculation, and Pluto knows that the other woman is not resentful of this attack upon her person. Had expected it, most likely.

"Doing," says Pluto, "is most different from knowing."

Mercury smiles. "Theoretical versus practical. Happens all the time."

Pluto gives her a look, and then makes another swift slash with her time key. Mercury does not move, and her eyebrow quirks at Pluto when her bodice is sliced down the side. Pluto does not have to ask to know that Mercury is immune to the cold. She drops her staff to the ground now, and waits, a silent statue.

Pluto has seen Mercury in the future, where the girl is quiet and shy and blushes like one of Io’s pale rose sub-species, and has seen herself as well, where she is laughing and kind. But that is in the future, far in the future, and they are not those people yet, and Pluto doesn't know the first thing about kindness and affability.

Which is perfectly fine, since neither does Mercury know the first thing about timidity.

She smoothes her small, long fingered hands through the gap in her dress, and pushes it off. It falls to the ground, becoming lost in the mists. Taking measured, easy steps forward, Mercury presses herself flush to the taller woman. Their bodies are hard, immobile, implacable against each other.

"What are you doing here, Lady Mercury?"

The woman's smile is a little wicked, this time, flashing like a sword point. "Don't you know, dear Time Keeper?"

Looking into Mercury's eyes, Pluto sees nothing and knows nothing of her thoughts and feelings. It is a strange thing, not knowing. Mercury speaks, voice soft and calm. "Kiss me."

It has been a long, long time since Pluto has had company.

"Yes, Lady," she breathes.

Pluto knows many things. She has seen them as the silent sentry, seen them slip and wriggle past her spot on time's bank. She knows that this will not be the last time she will indulge in, and with, the Mercurian princess. She knows that the time they will have will be as brief and inconsequential as a single, intricate snowflake.

"Let's experiment a bit, shall we?" Mercury murmurs, fingers dancing up Pluto's dark skirt, short nails rasping against the tanned flesh of her thighs.

Pluto knows the facts. But what she does not know is what to feel. Pluto gasps, and decides to give into Mercury's delicious logic, and experiment. She kisses the pale lips, to see if her dark wine lipstick will smear and mark.

Eventually, she decides, she might find the right combination of emotions. And if she doesn't, then at least she will all ready know how the story ends. She will be free to enjoy, instead, the way the story folds out.


End file.
